Amazing Victoria

We're used to seeing Playmates become TV stars, from Pam Anderson on Bay-watch to Jenny McCarthy on Singled Out, but one of our favorite Centerfolds, Victoria Fuller, has taken a most unlikely route to becoming a household name. The Playmate turned professional artist joined with her husband, Jonathan, a handsome 42-year-old writer, producer and day-spa owner, to take part in The Amazing Race 6, probably the most critically acclaimed reality show on TV. The couple signed on for the adventure and the chance to win $1 million. Instead they became the show's stars--but not necessarily for reasons they would have wanted.

While Victoria's genuine sweetness won over rivals and viewers almost from the outset, the intensely competitive Jonathan was so focused on winning that he was seen as more insistent and overbearing than the other contestants. From the start he was mentioned in the same breath as Survivor's Richard Hatch and The Apprentice's Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, whose unvarnished personalities had riveted viewers, for better or worse.

But then, in the season's fifth episode, came the moment now known as the Shove. Even in a genre in which extreme behavior is the norm, this act reached new heights. The couple, who were holding on to second place in the show's pressure-filled globe-trotting competition, were about to win the next leg of the race. Mere yards from the finish line in Berlin, Jonathan, in full sprint, shed his backpack in an attempt to gain an edge. Victoria, fearing the pack would be stolen, grabbed it. As she struggled with the extra weight, another couple overtook Victoria and Jonathan and won.

At that instant Jonathan lost it. Shouting, "How could you do that?" he shoved Victoria, who stumbled, barely keeping her feet. "Jon, stop it!" she wailed. She left in tears.

The couple had crossed the line a close second, but they'd also crossed the line in another way. Taciturn host Phil Keoghan, who rarely editorializes on the show, told Jonathan, "I think you probably should go and talk to Victoria." Viewers' feelings were as plain as the writing on the TV message boards. They labeled him "a scumbag" and "deplorable" and called for his disqualification. Bertram van Munster, the show's executive producer and creator, lectured Jonathan, something virtually unprecedented in reality-TV land. "I told him his behavior had to stop immediately," Van Munster says.

Acting out on national TV was hardly what Victoria and Jonathan had in mind when they applied to be contestants. The thought of winning the million-dollar grand prize was appealing, but the reason the couple applied, as they wrote on the program's website, was to get their relationship "on track after many grueling discussions about starting a family that have taken a toll on our marriage."

"We didn't go in thinking we'd be Ozzie and Harriet," Victoria says, "but we came off like Ozzy and Sharon. We were mentally and physically ready, but we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to win, and that was our downfall."

For the uninitiated, The Amazing Race takes 11 pairs of (concluded on page 157)Victoria Fuller(continued from page 75) people from various walks of life and sends them on a strenuous gallop around the globe. Victoria and Jonathan trained hard every day, but their preparation was not enough to overcome the strain of the competition. Then came the Shove.

Jonathan apologized soon after the incident. "That's not who I really am," he said. "It wasn't a true reflection of our relationship." He blamed his behavior on a steroid he'd begun taking to fight sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that had been diagnosed just days before the race. "That's what caused the sparks to fly," says Jonathan. He's still on the medication.

Victoria and Jonathan competed in four more episodes before becoming undone by, of all things, a donkey. On a leg of the race in Ethiopia they were distracted as they read the instructions for their next task. Told to deliver two donkeys to a local farmer, they showed up with one. They raced to fetch another, but time ran out, and so did their luck.

"It was so hard to accept," Victoria says. "I couldn't believe it came down to a stupid mistake." But by that point Victoria and Jonathan had begun to relax. Mingling with the villagers, they started emptying their pockets and giving away their money and clothes. Suddenly viewers saw a warmer, more generous side of the couple they had loved to hate. Says Victoria, "The experience really moved us and changed our lives."

With the race over, Victoria has now devoted herself to her artwork. She has several gallery shows in the works, including some in Europe, to show off her pieces. "My goal is to make a huge impact as a female artist," she says. "Playboy has been a good stepping-stone for me, and the race will also help." Jonathan continues to expand his Hollywood presence and is trying to land a spot on Survivor. They're working hardest, however, on their relationship.

"It's most important that Victoria and I continue to grow and learn from our mistakes," Jonathan says. To that end the couple appeared on A Dr. Phil Prime-time Special: Romance Rescue. "He was really hard on Jon," Victoria says, "but he wrapped it up on a positive note."

"The Amazing Race strengthened our marriage," says Victoria. "Watching the show allowed us to see our faults. We really did reconnect."

See Victoria's original Playmate pictorial at cyber.playboy.com.